Wilton-Lyndeborough boys soccer hands Derryfield first loss

WILTON – Giving up the game’s only goal on a penalty kick is a tough way to lose, but Derryfield School boys soccer coach Jeffery Cousineau would rather see it happen now than in a month.

In a month is when it really counts, and all Cousineau wants to do is make sure the Cougars get there. Despite Monday’s 1-0 loss to Wilton-Lyndeborough – Derryfield’s first setback of the season – the Cougars are in pretty good shape, but still have work to do.

“We’re still trying to find our identity,” Cousineau said. “You win enough games to make the playoffs and then worry about going undefeated then. We knew it was going to be a tough game and be physical, in a good way.

“We’ve got to be able to finish under pressure. That’s going to be one we’ll put in the back of our heads and we’ll have to be better next time.”

The Cougars (8-1 in Division IV) had a handful of chances in the second half, including three or four point-blank opportunities where they couldn’t muster a shot on goal.

And at the other end, the Warriors (8-1) took advantage of one of their few chances. About midway through the second half, WLC’s James Edmunds was awarded a penalty kick and rolled a shot into the left corner, just out of reach of keeper Tommy Cissel.

“It was pretty big,” WLC coach Steve Martus said. “You’re crossing your fingers and your toes that it’s going in. We knew they had a very good defense because they only had two goals scored against them. They had a lot of opportunities. We tried some new things out on defense and stopped them there.”

The biggest stop came with about five minutes left. Derryfield had a throw-in from the  right side of the WLC goal, and the ball bounced around before it found the foot of the Cougars’ Joe Costa.

Costa drilled a shot at the net, but it was right at keeper Connor Melrose. The junior goalie made the initial stop and secured the ball inches from the goal line.

“He’s not afraid out there,” Martus said. “We do warmups before the game and I just crank it at him and he doesn’t wince. He puts his body on the line and he covers the entire goal.”

Melrose and the Warriors caught a few breaks, too. The Cougars sent a couple of free kicks over the net, but their best chance came right after Edmunds’ goal, when Ryan Stagg sent the ball across the front of the goal to Jack St. Jean.

St. Jean had no one in front of him, but his shot went off the side of his foot and missed the net.

“We didn’t burry the chances we had,” Cousineau said. “No one ever likes losing, but it’s not the championship. We’re going to go out and play our game and we’ll run into each other somewhere. They’ve still got to come to our place.”

The teams meet again in the regular season on Oct. 18 at Derryfield.